The 68th

Women's Boat Race The Women's Boat Race is an annual rowing race between Cambridge University Women's Boat Club and Oxford University Women's Boat Club. First rowed in 1927, the race has taken place annually since 1964. Since the 2015 race it has been rowed on ...

took place on 24 March 2013. The race, between crews representing

Oxford University Women's Boat Club Oxford University Women's Boat Club (OUWBC) is the rowing club for female rowers (and coxes of either sex) who are students at the University of Oxford. The club was founded in 1926 and is now based in Wallingford at the Fleming Boat House ...

and

Cambridge University Women's Boat Club Cambridge University Women's Boat Club (CUWBC) was the rowing club for women at the University of Cambridge. CUWBC fielded both a lightweight eight that races against Oxford at the Henley Boat Races, and two openweight eights that race at the W ...

, was conducted as part of the

Henley Boat Races The Henley Boat Races were a series of annual rowing races between various crews representing the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge. The event included the Lightweight Men's Boat Race from 1975 to 2018, the Women's Boat ...

. It took place on a stretch of water on 2012 Olympic venue

Dorney Lake Dorney Lake (also known as Eton College Rowing Centre, and as Eton Dorney as a 2012 Summer Olympics venue) is a purpose-built rowing lake in England. It is near the village of Dorney, Buckinghamshire, and is around 3 km (2 miles) west of Wi ...

. Cambridge were the heavier of the crews and consisted of an all-British crew, while Oxford's boat included a Hungarian rower and an American

cox Cox may refer to: * Cox (surname), including people with the name Companies * Cox Enterprises, a media and communications company ** Cox Communications, cable provider ** Cox Media Group, a company that owns television and radio stations ** ...

. Oxford won the race by one and three-quarter lengths in a time of 7 minutes 11 seconds, their first win since the 2011 race. The victory took the overall record in the event to 41–27 in Cambridge's favour.

Background

The

is a side-by-side rowing competition between

(OUWBC) and the

(CUWBC) that has taken place since

1927 Events January * January 1 – The British Broadcasting ''Company'' becomes the British Broadcasting ''Corporation'', when its Royal Charter of incorporation takes effect. John Reith becomes the first Director-General. * January 7 * ...

. It was conducted as part of the

, which for 2013 was hosted at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

venue of

in Buckinghamshire instead of the traditional straight course at

Henley-on-Thames Henley-on-Thames ( ) is a town and civil parish on the River Thames in Oxfordshire, England, northeast of Reading, west of Maidenhead, southeast of Oxford and west of London (by road), near the tripoint of Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Buc ...

. Strong winds and stream conditions on the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, se ...

had precipitated the move to the Olympic venue. Cambridge went into the race as champions, having won the previous year's race by one quarter of a length, and led 41–26 overall. The race was sponsored by Newton Investment Management, a subsidiary of

The Bank of New York Mellon The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation, commonly known as BNY Mellon, is an American investment banking services holding company headquartered in New York City. BNY Mellon was formed from the merger of The Bank of New York and the Mellon Financ ...

, for the third successive year. Cambridge were led by Rob Baker who had previously coached

Goldie Clifford Joseph Price MBE (born 19 September 1965), better known as Goldie, is a British music producer and DJ. Initially gaining exposure for his work as a graffiti artist, Goldie became well known for his pioneering role as a musician in th ...

to victory in 2006 and 2007. Baker was assisted by British Olympic

quadruple sculls A quadruple sculling boat, often simply called a quad and abbreviated 4x, is a rowing boat used in the sport of competitive rowing. It is designed for four people who propel the boat by sculling with two oars, or "sculls", one in each hand. Rac ...

silver medallist Annie Vernon. Oxford's coach was Canadian former Olympic and University trainer Christine Wilson. She was assisted by British Olympic rower

Natasha Page Natasha Nicole Page (born 30 April 1985 in Gloucester) is a British rower who competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics and the 2012 Summer Olympics. Rowing career She finished fifth in the women's eight at the 2008 Olympic Games. She was part of ...

who was part of the women's eights that came fifth in both the

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

and 2012 Summer Olympics.

Crews

Trials for the crews were held in December 2012. Oxford's trial boats raced at Henley and were named ''Quick'' and ''Easy'' while Cambridge's trials took place at Dorney Lake with boats named ''Gin'' and ''Tonic''. The weigh-in, held on 4 March 2013, took place alongside the men for the first time in the history of the event. It was also the first time the weights of the female crews were made public. The Cambridge crew weighed an average of 11 st 0 lb 10 oz (70.0 kg), 4 lb 3 oz (1.9 kg) per rower more than their opponents. Oxford saw two rowers return to the crew in number three Mary Foord-Weston and number six Harriet Keane, both of whom had participated in the 2012 race. Oxford's boat club president Bridget Fryer was forced to withdraw from the race through injury. Cambridge's crew included three rowers with Boat Race experience, in bow Caroline Reid, number two Faye Sandford (who was earning her third

Blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when obs ...

for CUWBC) and

stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...

Holly Game. Cambridge's boat club president Helena Schofield did not participate in the event, and instead rowed for the women's reserve boat Blondie. CUWBC's

Esther Momcilovic had previously steered the Cambridge reserve boat Blondie, while Oxford's crew included three former Osiris participants in Amy Varney, Keane and cox Katie Apfelbaum. Cambridge's crew was entirely British while Oxford's included Hungarian Mariann Novak at bow, British/Germans Alice Carrington-Windo at two and Maxie Scheske at stroke, and American Apfelbaum.

Race

Cambridge won the toss and selected the more sheltered side of the course. The race started at 3:00 p.m. on 24 March 2013. Cambridge made the quicker start and led by a few feet after ten strokes. They were half a length ahead after , out-rating Oxford by fours strokes per minute. OUWBC's longer strokes enabled them to cope with the "choppy" conditions and at the mark they began to catch the Cambridge boat, getting level by the mark. Pushing on, Oxford pulled away to win by one and three-quarter lengths in a time of 7 minutes 11 seconds, the slowest winning time since the 2001 race. It was Oxford's first win since the 2011 race but their fifth win in the last six events. The victory took the overall record in the event to 41–27 in Cambridge's favour. Oxford's Foord-Weston said the conditions were "pretty grim" but their training at Dorney during the week running up to the race had prepared them for the "horrible winds". Cambridge's number seven, Emily Day, said "it was pretty windy ... we had the race of our lives ... there's nothing we could have done that we didn't do."

References

External links

Official websiteVideo of the race
{{The Boat Race Women's Boat Race

Boat A boat is a watercraft of a large range of types and sizes, but generally smaller than a ship, which is distinguished by its larger size, shape, cargo or passenger capacity, or its ability to carry boats. Small boats are typically found on inl ...

Boat Race Boat racing is a sport in which boats, or other types of watercraft, race on water. Boat racing powered by oars is recorded as having occurred in ancient Egypt, and it is likely that people have engaged in races involving boats and other wate ...

2013 sports events in London

Background

Crews

Race

See also

References

External links